Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Ibrahim Yumaklı stated that they have scanned an area of 146 million square meters in seas and inland waters in 2024. Yumaklı used the expression “We removed 1.6 million square meters, which is equivalent to the size of 224 football fields, of nets and 13,750 other fishing gear from our seas.”

In a written statement, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Ibrahim Yumaklı announced that the Ghost Net Project (HAP) was implemented in 2014 to clean up abandoned or lost fishing gear from the aquatic ecosystem during fishing activities. Yumaklı pointed out that the project, which has been carried out continuously since its inception, cleans up fishing gear waste in seas and inland waters, thereby preventing “ghost fishing,” which is caused by abandoned or intentionally discarded fishing gear continuing to function underwater without human control leading to the death of aquatic organisms.

“1.1 MILLION SQUARE METERS OF GHOST NETS” Yumaklı emphasized that water resources are prioritized by evaluating their importance in terms of biological and ecological factors, the species they contain, and their endemic and conservation statuses based on scientific data and studies conducted by the Ministry. He stated: “Moreover, a focus was placed on rivers in Diyarbakır, Muş, Batman, Van, and Bitlis from 2022 onwards due to the endemic and endangered species they contain. The project, later expanded to include all our inland waters, removed a total of 1.1 million square meters (154 football fields) of ghost nets from the Marmara Sea between 2021-2024 to alleviate the negative effects on the ecosystem.” Minister Yumaklı provided the following information about the HAP activities: “A total area of 146.1 million square meters was scanned in our seas and inland waters in 2024, resulting in the removal of 1.6 million square meters, which is equivalent to the size of 224 football fields, of nets and 13,750 other fishing gear. Since the project started in 2014, a total area of 452.6 million square meters has been scanned, and 2.6 million square meters of nets and 65,000 other fishing gear have been cleaned from our aquatic ecosystems. Some of the removed nets have been recycled. As a result of our efforts, we have prevented the loss of approximately 8.5 million aquatic organisms in the past decade.” Minister Yumaklı emphasized that the activities carried out within the scope of the project will continue uninterrupted, stating that they will continue to take necessary measures to clean aquatic ecosystems from ghost nets that harm marine and inland waters.